That was certainly the case Saturday as the senior “forward” earned Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match accolade playing a notable role in the Tigers’ 2-1 victory over Batavia. It was a second-straight home win for South (2-0-0) while the Bulldogs (1-2-0) lost for a second time. Their string of season-opening road matches ends with the fourth Tuesday at Neuqua Valley.

As a junior Kerby earned Wheaton Warrenville South’s team Defensive Player of the Year award, but this season he moved from center-back to center-forward in order to boost the Tigers’ attack. So far so good.

He tallied both goals in a season-opening 2-0 shutout of Plainfield Central and then produced the game-winner against Batavia with a highlight-worthy chip over an out-rushing goalie that bounced perfectly under the crossbar and into the net with 25:26 left in regulation.

“Being new to the center-forward position I’ve been trying to work a lot on my touch,” Kearby explained. “First you have to fight the instinct to blast it and make certain no matter what, it’s on frame. There has to be a little luck involved in a goal like that, but some credit has to go to Gabby (Lozcano). The center-back to forward pass for a breakaway is a tough one to make, and I got a really good ball.”

As a trio of defensive teammates received yellow cards, the next adjustment by the Tigers was to put Kerby back in his old position to help preserve the one-goal lead.

“On the one hand Charlie showed how far he’s come offensively but (he showed) his versatility in going back on defense to help us milk some time due to yellow cards,” Callipari noted. “Three goals in two matches shows he could be our Offensive Player of the Year after being the top defender last season. In 26 years as head coach, I’m pretty sure I’ve never had that happen.”

The opening half featured a lot of back-and-forth play that more often was the first word in stalemate -- as in a 0-0 halftime draw. Batavia starting goalie Chris Rubio and his Tiger counterpart Nathan Friedle both had a single save, and both rushed out to make defensive c atches or clears to avoid potential dangerous situations.

The second half began on a far more interesting pace. Just 4:49 after intermission, a Batavia foul enabled Carlos Rosas to have a penalty kick. The senior midfielder put South ahead 1-0 by going to his left against Batavia second half goalie Treven Ritko-Siros.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, they didn’t adjust well to being ahead. Batavia used the restart to execute a give-and-go play that knotted the match a mere 11 seconds later.

“We had to get momentum back because giving up PKs can be crushing,” Bulldog senior Erik Faessler noted. “I told Nolan (Garvin) to give me a through-ball right away and got enough on it that even though the keeper touched it, it still rolled into the net.”

“It’s not something we’ve worked on specifically, but before the restart, Erik and I talked about him making a quick run for a straight pass,” Garvin added. “It’s so gratifying to know we can see something, make a quick adjustment and have it pay off. I believe we’ve raised our level and how we play as a team from the game before. Three games in and our ball movement is improved; we’re creating and taking more shots. We need to continue working hard.”

Sparked by that equalizer, Batavia’s offense was charged up. Garvin spotted Miguel Garcia in space for a right-side try and few minutes later, Faessler got off an 11-yard blast that Friedle blocked and had teammates race to recover the rebound.

But then came the game-winning play for Wheaton Warrenville South.

While Callipari again cited Kerby’s leadership and all-around play, he also had compliments for two other Tigers.

“Noah (Kettle’s) experience shows in how he’s rarely out of position and keeps us organized centrally,” Callipari said. “He makes it easy for us to make a quick transition to offense or he holds things together on defense until we can get our shape back. He does so many things that largely go unnoticed.

“Gabby (Lozcano) works with Noah in doing a great job of cleaning things up. He and Nate (Friedle) communicate well and keep us organized defensively.”

That was critical because Batavia continued to aggressively press the attack. Garvin got off a 26-yard cannon shot shortly after the Bulldogs fell behind. Minutes later, Trevor Hockings placed a free-kick in front of the box that unfortunately for the visitors, went begging for a redirect.

South had two more noteworthy chances, Unla Husseini’s corner-kick went from the arch of Kearby’s foot to just over the crossbar in the 64th minute and the very final seconds saw Bulldog goalie Ritko-Siros get a one-hand deflection on a Husseini rocket from the left, but Will Buxton’s follow-up was just wide for a virtual empty-net putback on the opposite side.

“Charlie’s a main target for us on crosses and corners, so I pride myself on trying to give him or any teammate a good ball in the middle,” Husseini said.

The second half saw Batavia chalk up nine of 12 overall attempts and five of six on frame. South finished with 10 total tries, six of which were shots on goal.

“Despite the final score I thought we played a very good game,” Batavia boss Mark Gianfrancesco said. “Our movement off the ball and the pace of the game favored us. We did get caught watching and not paying enough attention on defense, but that’s fixable. Overall I thought we owned the middle. Garvin deserves a lot of credit for how well he stayed engaged.”

Batavia's next opponent, Neuqua Valley, was ranked two spot's south of the top 25 in the Chicagoland Soccer preseason poll. The Tuesday game precedes the Bulldogs' home debut Sept. 1 versus Plainfield Central.

A long-time tradition and trademark of Wheaton Warrenville South soccer, both boys and girls under Callipari, is for the Tigers to vote and reward an opposing player after every match with a pin for good sportsmanship: Batavia’s Will Smith was the recipient.